It’s been since I had bought a pattern! Seeing the awesome collar of the Laurel made me buy it immediatly.
I had stumbled upon Sophie Denys’ patterns on Instagram and found that she had lovely necklines.
This Dashwood poplin had just been delivered (it was on back order and I got it 7 months after ordering it through Minerva!) and I thought pattern and fabric would work well together.
The Laurel blouse
Sophie Denys’ patterns offer 3 heights: 160, 168, and 176 cm. I like that a lot! A PDF file tells you what height would be better for you.
Since I’m 164 cm, I’m at the junction of 160 and 168 cm. Since I always find the darts to be too high for me, I opted to sew a 160 cm height.
Sizes go from FR32 to FR56 in every height. I chose a bust 42 blended to 44 for waist and hips.
Laurel‘s main feature is undoubtedly its V neckline along with stand-up collar.
The sleeve bottom has 2 options: a cuff or ties.
Laurel and Nighfall, a dreamy combination
Nothing really tricky, except the V neckline.
I didn’t muslin the Laurel blouse. I’ll have to lower the darts (again!) and shorten the shoulder seam, but these are common alterations. I had already done a square shoulder adjustment because I was rather sure that the collar would stick out without such an alteration.
The facing was interfaced with G700, using the 2-in-1 method (the video is available on Youtube).
I was shocked by the thickness of the Dashwood poplin. I’m more used to Art Gallery Fabrics poplins’ light weight. As a result, the blouse has less drape than intended.
Future Laurels
I’ll try height 168 next time because the blouse reaches my high hips (as intended by the pattern designer), but I find it too short if I want to tuck it in.
I’ll also have to lower the darts a bit along with shortening the shoulder seam.
After the photoshoot, I topstitched the neckline because, even if I had understitched it and clipped into the V, I had the facing that kept flipping on the outside.
All in all, that’s a really cute pattern. I may sew another Laurel, with the ties at the bottom of the sleeves. However, I’m not sure how to pair it and ties may be a bit bothering in everyday’s life.
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